Giving the Voiceless a VoiceBetween them, Sarah Cobham and John Irving Clarke have many years of teaching experience and yet, teachers of English, doesn’t do justice to the full range of their skills as they also have experience of Drama, Personal and Social Development and other humanities and arts-related subjects. Above all, they have a commitment to the life-enhancing power of literacy and creative expression.

It was this commitment to the arts which led them to their work as Creative Partners at New Hall Women’s Prison and the Wednesday morning drop-in sessions for Asylum Seekers at Wakefield Quaker House. They felt that there are elements within society whose voices are being denied and Sarah and John were intent upon Giving the Voiceless a Voice.

At New Hall prison they worked with women who normally help out in and around the prison library. These women’s antennae were alert but their self-confidence in relation to literacy skills was very low. However, drama warm-up exercises and stimulus material in the form of images and short poems soon generated a lively discussion and a sense of security about what they were being asked to do.

What they were being asked to do was produce their own poetry and art work and then show it to an audience in the form of a drama presentation. And this was achieved during Sarah and John’s final visit to the prison. Some of the final work was captured in the resultant commemorative book but the pride, sense of achievement and boosted self-esteem stayed with the women participants.

At the Quaker House morning drop-in sessions, Sarah and John’s work took on a different tenor. It was soon clear that the issue of operating in a second language would be a major one for the intended participants and, also, the legal and health advice that was being offered clearly needed to take a priority. Sarah and John decided to increase the number of their visits in order to become familiar faces; they chatted and made friendly contact. Only then did they introduce their artistic activities which now had a greater emphasis upon the artistic rather than the linguistic. To their delight, sessions based around butterflies, trees, fruit and iced buns drew eager participation from Asylum Seekers of all ages plus the support volunteers and the legal professionals who used any spare minutes to feel the warm effect of producing their own art work.

Again, some of the resultant work was included in the published book and again, the strength of feeling, the warmth of shared participation and achievement proved impossible to capture fully. But in any event, the objective of Giving the Voiceless a Voice had been achieved.